I am calling the Ushers at my mom's church SS's and the people who came LATE to Christmas eve mass - and would not be separated from each other - all six of them needed to be seated together in one of the two busiest masses of the year. I had gotten there early....and got a seat I wanted, only to be TOLD that I needed to move to accommodate these folks, to a seat where my mother could not sit with me. So I get out move my stuff and go to the seat I was allowed to sit in - only to have the Ushers come in and again try to move me. Because someone else who came late was more worthy of a seat than I. This time I refused to accommodate. They could sit separately because I was not moving - so the wife sat sideways and acted like she was in her living room, elbowed me several times and her husband told me to move so their daughter could sit with them. Again - no, I am not standing so your daughter can sit. Then the woman decided that the organist and choir were not worth listening to - on the only day when they do the Polish Carols, in Polish, she wanted to chat with me! I was singing along when they came and I was not stopping because her specialness wanted coffee hour. She did not stop talking until the Gospel reading. To me, to her husband ( about how rude I was for not moving or chatting to her) ,to the daughter standing in the aisle, no one around her could concentrate on the readings or prayers. You know if you want to sit together, get there early - or sit where you can, but expecting others to be displaced for you ( or displacing those who came early.) when you know this is going to be a packed house,,,, is ridiculous.

Both the woman and her family plus the ushers are SS's. The ushers should have not forced you to move and the woman & her family defined SS. That is why you arrive early for Xmas Masses to get the seats/pew you want. Too bad the ushers do not have announcements made asking parents of infants and toddlers to hold them to free up space as most of the time kids under age 3 seldom want to sit down for any period of time (at least in my experiences going to church and observing kids of that age range there).

It would be extremely awkward to kneel, stand and sing while holding a toddler. If a family with small children arrives in time to get seats for everyone there is no reason the parents should have to give up their seats because someone else was late.

Today I met SS-The Entire Theater Belongs to ME. DH and I took the kids to see an animated movie today. The theater was half-full and while the top "half" of the theater was crowded, there were plenty of available seats in the bottom half. (Not just the front row "neck killer" seats, but plenty of mid-level "comfortable" seats.) My family was seated in one of the top rows.

Right after the previews ended, a woman with six kids - three in the 5 or 6 range and three in the 11 or 12 range - comes in. Instead of heading for the multiple rows of available seats, they make a beeline for the three empty seats to my right. So... seven people, thinking they can sit in three seats. The three younger kids sit down, but the mom isn't happy with the idea of the little girls sitting alone, so she and the teens stood there discussing this with the seated little kids. Several different plans were proposed, including one in which the mom could sit with two of the little girls, while the remaining younger girl could go sit with the tween kids somewhere else in the theater. The remaining younger girl didn't like this plan and neither did the tweens. Please keep in mind that during this prolonged, not exactly quiet, discussion, the movie had started and these people were standing directly in front of my family's seats. So not only can we not see or hear the start of the movie, we're having to hold these awkward "letting someone by" leg maneuvers to make room for them.

I put up with it up until one of the tween boys stepped on my daughter (eight years old)'s foot for the fourth or fifth time - without apologizing - and I spoke up. I said, "Ma'am, there are plenty of available seats. Will you and your children please find somewhere to sit?"

The woman shushed me and glared at me, then plucked one of the younger girls from the seat right next to me and plopped down in it. (Awesome.) She told the other kids to go find SOMEWHERE to sit and she would find them later to bring them popcorn. So for the rest of the movie, I was treated to her huffing and glaring at me from the next seat, while alternately getting up every twenty minutes or so to take the tweens more popcorn.

By the time the lights came up, I was pretty steamed. Other Mom snarked to her kids to hold on and stay in their seats because she didn't think that "some people" were going to let them pass so they could catch up with the other kids. I kept my back turned to her and helped my daughter with her coat. DH said she was shooting death glares at me the whole time. I walked out of the theater without even looking back at her.

I swear, I'm going to just wait for the DVD release of movies from now on.

Went to the Zoo yesterday with Loren and Brett. It was in the 50's. This woman was walking up to random zoo employees wanting to know how to get a refund/why they didn't let people in for free because the animals weren't out.

She walked away. Loren looked at me and asked "Didn't she check the weather before she left."

Went to the Zoo yesterday with Loren and Brett. It was in the 50's. This woman was walking up to random zoo employees wanting to know how to get a refund/why they didn't let people in for free because the animals weren't out.

She walked away. Loren looked at me and asked "Didn't she check the weather before she left."

They have fur coats on! Just poke them and make them dance!

Logged

I have enough lithium in my medicine cabinet to power three cars across a sizeable desert. Which makes me officially...Three Cars Crazy

Went to the Zoo yesterday with Loren and Brett. It was in the 50's. This woman was walking up to random zoo employees wanting to know how to get a refund/why they didn't let people in for free because the animals weren't out.

She walked away. Loren looked at me and asked "Didn't she check the weather before she left."

Where I live, police will come & ticket a car that is blocking a driveway, if it is reported. If the driveway is completely blocked, the car may be towed.

Last time I reported a completely blocked drivewayt, the police officer figured out where the car owner lived (around the corner), and both called & knocked on his door. When there was no answer, the officer called for a tow.

Another time, a neighbor kept parking a truck with a trailer so it partially blocked the driveway. I didn't know the neighbor, so I put a polite note on the windshield asking if he could be more careful in parking, because I had to drive over the lawn to get out. Never happened again.

But we're running out of patience. And money. Our insurance rates increased after we bumped into one of them while backing out last year.

I think a call to the fire marshal is going to be next...

Fire Marshal might be a good idea. I'll pass that on to Sis. Not their street but the street that gives access to their street is supposed to be 2 way. But the new apartment complex doesn't have enough on site parking and the parked cars reduce the street to 1 car wide down the middle. (The residents tried parking in the school lot across the way - that now has a locked gate when the school is closed.)

My neighbors used to park in a legal spot, but it blocked my view when backing out. I was lucky. I explained the problem - now they park 1/2 a car length down the street and I have a clear view backing out.

I take it you have actually talked to your neighbors about this problem with no results?

Yes, absolutely. There seem to be about eight adults who live there and I don't know how many kids. I/we have left polite notes, have complained to the apartment manager who claims to send "helpful reminders" and have tried talking to them. There is either a genuine language barrier or they're pretending there is one....I'm not going to go there and try to guess on that.

But either way, we're now documenting the parking violations (it's expressly included in the lease what the parking regulations are) and have sent photos and so far one letter via certified mail to the apartment manager about this, since it's the management company's job to enforce the lease. Anyway. We're documenting and now sending official complaint letters - building a case, as it were. Hate to do it, but nothing seems to be working. If, God forbid, we have another accident due to the parking, a small claims case will be filed. But that's getting legal, and I'm not going to go there .... just rest assured we're taking the legal steps we need to to resolve the situation. Fire marshal will be next.

In any case, we're hoping we can afford a down payment on a house later this year, if I manage to find a job in the field I'm trying to transition into.

I just posted this to further illustrate how *rude* some people are. It's teeth-gnashing worthy! grrrrr.